Egypt's net foreign reserves are currently enough to cover only three months of the country's imports, Ashraf El-Arabi, minister of planning and international cooperation, stated on Tuesday.

Earlier the same day, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced that Egypt's total foreign reserves had dropped by $1.4 billion in January to reach their lowest levels – $13.6 billion – in more than a decade.

The government pays roughly LE5 billion (roughly $746 million) per month on imports, El-Arabi said in a speech at Cairo’s International Book Fair.

According to CBE figures, Egypt’s total import bill in 2012 stood at $58.6 billion.

El-Arabi called on the government to set an "urgent plan" aimed at easing the state's widening budget deficit and raising foreign reserve levels by June of this year.

He went on to point out that talks between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund over a proposed $4.8 billion loan were currently on hold until the government modified its economic reform programme.